Employers
Employers must ensure teachers are accredited and internal procedures are in place. Find out more about your responsibilities to support teachers applying for and maintaining Proficient Teacher and Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher (HALT) accreditation.
Ensure teachers are actively accredited
As an employer, you are responsible for ensuring teachers you employ are actively accredited to teach in NSW. See section 14.7 of the TA Manual for more details about your responsibilities.
Internal procedures
You must also have internal procedures in place to support teachers applying for and maintaining Proficient Teacher and HALT accreditation. You must provide all teachers with a copy or access to the procedures.
Who is covered by the procedures?
Your procedures for implementing the requirements apply to:
- principals and service directors
- casual, part-time and full-time teachers
- non-school or service based teachers
- teachers regularly working in a school/service placed by a third party, for example an employment agency.
Who is considered a service director?
A service director is a teacher who:
- is accredited at Proficient Teacher or above
- has seniority over the teachers whose practice they are making an accreditation recommendation or attestation for.
They may not have a service director title. The service director function may be assigned to an accredited teacher in the same service or delegated to another teacher within the employer. If there is no one to carry out the service director role, the employer must contact NESA.
Your internal procedures must ensure:
- teachers making accreditation recommendations are accredited at Proficient Teacher or above
- Provisional and Conditional teachers are allocated an Accreditation Supervisor and supervised
- Provisional and Conditional teachers employed as casual, part-time or full-time are given ongoing support and feedback about their practice relating to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (the Standards)
- timely feedback is provided to all teachers about their demonstration of practice at the Standards, including where they risk not meeting requirements.
NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) recommends teachers are allocated an Accreditation Supervisor as soon as possible after they are employed.
For more on how to support a teacher applying for Proficient Teacher, read
File
Applying for Proficient Teacher Accreditation Procedure Information for K-12 employers (PDF 123.9KB) .Early childhood employers should refer to
File
Applying for Proficient Teacher Accreditation Procedure - interim arrangements (PDF 261.35KB) .You must have internal procedures to support your teachers maintaining their Proficient Teacher accreditation.
Read more about employer responsibilities to support teachers maintaining Proficient Teacher accreditation.
Employers play an important role in supporting principals/service directors and applicants to meet requirements for HALT accreditation. Responsibilities include:
- discussing a teacher’s intention and verifying their eligibility to apply for HALT accreditation
- creating a supportive environment for teachers applying for HALT accreditation
- accommodating Site Visits for HALT applicants and participating in a 30-minute structured interview with the External Assessor.
For more on how to support a teacher applying for HALT, read
File
Applying for HALT Accreditation Procedure Information for employers (PDF 154.39KB) .Your internal procedures must ensure:
- issues related to a teacher’s practice not meeting the Standards are addressed when they arise
- concerns related to a teacher's ongoing professional practice are appropriately supported
- teachers are notified of issues with their practice and given 28 days to address them before a principal or service director attests that their practice does not meet the Standards
- teachers at risk of not meeting the Standards are advised of the employer’s obligation to notify NESA where grounds for suspension and revocation are determined.
For more on how to support a teacher maintaining HALT, read
File
Maintaining HALT Accreditation Procedure Information for employers (PDF 170.44KB) .Provide guidance for when there is an issue
Internal procedures must include guidance for what to do when there is an issue, including how to:
- notify NESA when there are grounds for suspension or revocation of accreditation
- manage conflicts of interest
- manage complaints and grievances.
Related information
- NSW Teacher Accreditation Manual
File
Applying for Proficient Teacher Accreditation Procedure Information for K-12 employers (PDF 123.9KB)File
Maintaining Proficient Teacher Accreditation Procedure for principals service directors and employers (PDF 222.03KB)File
Applying for HALT Accreditation Procedure Information for employers (PDF 154.39KB)File
Maintaining HALT Accreditation Procedure Information for employers (PDF 170.44KB)File
Applying for Proficient Teacher Accreditation Procedure - interim arrangements (PDF 261.35KB)- Professional conduct